After All
by Lily Among the Thorns
Summary: Auriga Sinistra did not love Severus Snape, despite what her subconscious may have said. No, really, she didn't.


**Disclaimer:** Easy stuff first; I don't own Harry Potter/related items/characters/etc. Auriga Sinistra, likewise, is not really mine. She (and many of the references) belong to the wonderful genuis-type that is Nita (aka **She's a Star**), and her fic "Lamentations of a Starry-Eyed Twit."

I was rereading that, and felt compelled to do some Snape/Sinistra drabbles. It is such a lovely ship, and I want to do it justice. You will review, won't you, my lovelies?

_Lily Among the Thorns_

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She blushed when she saw him at breakfast. All-too-appealing images of slimly muscular arms and intense black eyes were still fresh in her memory (a memory that had never happened). She could not look at him, though she sat in her usual seat.

"You certain there's nothing going on?" Victoria had asked her, the question unwelcome. She, apparently, was not the only one who noticed her awkwardness about him. "You're _really_ not sleeping with him?"

"In his dreams," she had replied with a scoff. Actually, it was in hers. Not that she would have told anyone. She was too bewildered by the prospect that the dream -- nightmare -- had presented. She did not love Severus Snape. Could not love such a cruel, greasy excuse for a man. Though it didn't really matter, since he could not harbor feelings to begin with.

She might've been a tad bit fond of him, if he didn't insist upon being such a bastard (DieSnapeDie). But he had no redeeming qualities (except the peculiarly inviting twist of his lip when he sneered at her, or the silky smooth quality his voice took on when he was about to spout off some particularly scathing comment, or his inane ability to know what she was thinking, even though she would never admit to it once he had said it). And that was just inexcusable.

In fact, _he_ was inexcusable, period. There was no excuse for his affinity for torturing her, for his position at Hogwarts, for him to exist at all. He could just as well have disappeared, for all Auriga cared (she might have missed him, a little). He should have dropped off the face of the Earth. (She said she would have been happy to help.)

And this was precisely why she was surprised, when she found him waiting in the Astronomy Tower, alone. She would have asked him what he was doing there (but she was afraid to find out). So, she stood and watched him until he realised she had come up.

"Auriga..." he had drawled as though he were going to say something important (but he did not). He seemed frozen there, lips still puckered around the last syllable of her name. Images of her nightmare (really a dream) came back to her, once more. She wished they hadn't.

"What is it, Severus?" she had asked him coldly, with a glare that could have rivaled his (she felt guilty for doing it). Why he would have any business in the Astronomy Tower -- _her_ Astronomy Tower -- was completely beyond her comprehension (but not her imagination). He loathed the sight of her (or so she told herself), so there should have been no reason for him to willingly partake of her company. (She hoped she was wrong.)

His eyes -- they were like chunks of coal, but had some feeling to them -- seemed to bore through her. She thought he looked like a ghost (or a vampire, but not a brooding one like Louis), or at least as though he had seen one. He looked frightened. "I came..." A pause, which he had always been fond of making at the most irritating moments (she wouldn't mention that she found them alluring). "...to apologise."

A deer caught in the headlights of a car. Auriga stared helplessly at him. She was shocked (but had always hoped he might do this). "What could _you_ possibly feel the need to apologise for? You've never done so in the past." Cruel, calm, collected. That was her (in her own mind, at least). She trembled visibly.

His face hardened in a flash (it had been too good to be real). "I thought, perhaps I could..." Another pause (she wanted to lean forward and kiss him). She thought they might drive her insane. (She was already beginning to crack.) "...relieve my conscience. I have not always been the most agreeable of men, especially to you..." She had to agree with him there.

"You're right." Her words were sharper than she had intended them to be. (Not that it mattered, because he was only Severus Snape.) "You've been a cold, putoffish bastard." She glowered, forgetting for a moment how much taller he was than her. (She was intimidated by his harsh gaze. It burned.) "Not that you've ever cared about it before."

He opened his mouth to speak once more, but no sound emerged. She had rendered him speechless. Grinning in victory (ignoring the twinge of remorse), she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her nose up. It was her turn to be haughty and aloof. "Now if you'll excuse me," she said to him, then, "I have a class to prepare for." She started toward the balcony. (Just play it cool.)

"Don't you _get_ it, Auriga?" he fumed, and seized her arm. (She hadn't been expecting that. He was not supposed to be passionate.) "I feel... guilty. For insulting you." She heard him mutter, "Though I don't know why, as you are an ungrateful, starry-eyed twit." That almost hurt (more than she would have let on), but she pretended not to hear.

Turning slowly, she tried to meet his eyes (but was not alarmed when she couldn't). "It's..." She never progressed beyond that word; she was suddenly caught up in a hasty embrace. (His arms were more comforting than she had imagined.) Too dumb to react, she allowed her lips to be coaxed into a kiss (it was warm and velvety, not at all what she thought of him).

That sealed everything. (Severus Snape was not such a bastard, once you got to know him.)


End file.
